Dalai Lama Succession: Who Is Gyaltsen Norbu? The Panchen Lama Chosen By China

NDTV

08-07-2025

The 14th Dalai Lama has confirmed that the institution of the Dalai Lama would continue, and only the Gaden Phodrang Trust, based in India, has the sole authority to recognise his successor. The Tibetan spiritual leader said, "no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter". However, in response, China's Foreign Ministry has said that the succession "must comply with Chinese laws and regulations as well as religious rituals and historical conventions". Moreover, China has even appointed a young Tibetan as the second-highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism, who has pledged to make the religion more Chinese. So, who is the young Tibetan Buddhist monk installed by Beijing as the 11th Panchen Lama?
Here's all we know about Gyaltsen Norbu
According to CNN, China appointed Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, replacing the Dalai Lama's choice, a six-year-old boy who hasn't been seen in the last 30 years. Norbu supports the Chinese Communist Party and lacks support among ethnic Tibetans. He is often quoted in China's state-run media, toeing the Communist Party's line and praising its policies in Tibet.
While the Dalai Lama's pick, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, remains missing, Norbu has occupied an increasingly high-profile role since becoming an adult, joining a top Chinese political body, often appearing at important events in Beijing and meeting large crowds in the Tibetan regions of China.
Recently, Norbu even attended a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where he vowed to make his own contributions to promoting ethnic unity and systematically advancing "the sinicisation of religion".
Norbu reportedly also vowed to keep Xi Jinping's teachings firmly in mind, resolutely support the party's leadership, and firmly safeguard national unity and ethnic solidarity, as per the outlet. He was told by Xi to carry forward the "patriotic and religious traditions" of Tibetan Buddhism and contribute to fostering "a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation," CNN reported.
Notably, the contested appointment of the Panchen Lama by Beijing is widely seen by experts and the Tibetan exile community as China's attempt to pave the way for the passing and reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.
China considers the 14th Dalai Lama a separatist and wants to bring Tibetan Buddhism under its control, but the Dalai Lama and his huge following have been obstacles to that ambition. The Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born in the "free world," which he described as outside China. Beijing, however, has insisted it will choose his successor as well as the reincarnation of all Tibetan Buddhist lamas.